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Two

March 28th, 2008 by John
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It's interesting to step back from myself, and try to figure out the stew of emotions I'm in. I feel like I've completed this tremendous ordeal, or I've been granted some fundamental reprieve. Very emotional, very odd - perhaps because it's an ending, with several different closures.

The team at the office all chipped in together and bought me a Northern Ireland IFA jersey - way cool, unexpected, and very thoughtful. I was made to promise that I would refer to it as a real football jersey, which I'm happy to do. I think it'll make a great tennis shirt too.

Now, the suitcase story. When Ginger and the boys went home, they left me with one big wheeled duffel. That would have been fine if it was really just my clothes - after all, that's what I had when I came over. A lot of crap accumulated here in six months, including stuff we thought we'd use but didn't, and I'd been girding myself for throwing or giving it away. But a few weeks ago, taking the trash out, I found a very large suitcase at the dumpster. It had one handle broken but rolled fine, so I dragged it inside to give it a closer look. Inside were shoes (no, not a torso) - seven or eight pairs. Those went back to the dumpster, and the suitcase dried out downstairs.

I'm finally to the point of packing, and started loading them up. The suitcase proved bigger than the duffel, which is good, because I've filled them both up. I don't understand it either, but there you go, and I think only one bag is overweight. The only things left to pack are two days of clothes and bathroom supplies. Oh, and the router - obviously the last thing to go.

Tomorrow: vacuum, give the kitchen one last cleaning, and head out. The original plan was to try to get down to Dublin in time to see some sights, but it looks like rain all day. So the new plan is to hit the Crown for a bowl of stew and a pint, turn the car in, catch the 12:30 bus, and get to Dublin about 3:00. After that I'm at all kinds of loose ends - here's hoping the movies are good on TV.

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Three

March 27th, 2008 by John
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Trying to pack this place is like tackling the freaking Augean Stables. Vacuuming under the couch I found, along with three buckeyes, a superball, and an orange tic-tac, Chance's MP3 player. And under my bedside table was the flash drive I'd written off - I guess it was just the night for recovering solid state electronics.

The contents of my refrigerator are down to:
* 1 pt milk (for porridge)
* cheese (snack)
* spinach (salad)
* yogurt (breakfast)
* water

And I have a pizza in the freezer for dinner.

I need to finish off the port tomorrow - poor me. But tomorrow's my last day at work here, then tomorrow it's off to Dublin. I'd like to try to get down to the city, but it looks like rain all day Saturday.

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Four

March 26th, 2008 by John
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The kitchen is taking up 80% of my time, with the combination of trying to plan meals through Saturday morning, and throwing out stuff I know neither I nor the next tenants will want (like six different powdered drink mixes: strawberry Nesquik, chocolate Nesquik, banana Nesquik, Horlick's (don't ask), Tesco cocoa, and Cadbury cocoa).

I sent out my "hey, I'm going back home, it's been real" email to the client list last night. This morning there was an email blast from the consultant side manager asking for "confirmation of continued on-site presence through go-live". It was hard not to giggle when I read that, knowing that the on-site presence won't be me.

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Five

March 25th, 2008 by John
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Bookstore today for material for the plane: the first three Discworld books. I am, possibly, the last person in the world to discover Terry Pratchett. And by "world", I mean "people who like to read what I like to read."

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Six

March 24th, 2008 by John
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Packing started today - I put the last load of clothes through the wash, and started on the bathroom and kitchen. I went to Tesco today too, for the last load of food (I hope), and am trying to not waste any food. Last Miller tallboy is now in my tummy (bought for chili), but the Edam cheese went straight in the trash - that crap is nasty..

In retrospect, yesterday's pictures don't look that great. I can't tell if it's this laptop monitor, or if the pictures just look that washed out.

Saturday was somewhat sunny, I took some pictures at CH Wilson Park. This is the park I walk through on the way to work. There's several large rocks near the river that are part of an art installation called Canadian Life. Pictographs of animals and insects are etched in the stones; my favorite is this leaping fish. The other pictographs are in my picasaweb album.

I waited around for sun, thinking that the shadows would make the etchings pop out a bit more, but I don't think it made much difference. Maybe the sun was too high, or maybe the etchings weren't deep enough - regardless, the fish was taken under clouds, and I think it's pretty clear. Not much artistic merit to the picture, perhaps, but clear.

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